Laureates of LA

Last month (unbelievably), I wrote about my belief in the need of each community for artists who pay tribute to it and sing its praises through their craft. I continue to bemoan the dearth (to my knowledge) of any such contemporary heroes back in Arizona. There's something I realized as I thought about it. Excelling in this regard requires the same thing that is required to hit home runs in baseball or be funny in improv comedy.

Namely, you must not try specifically to do the thing. The more effort you expend in so attempting, the further you will fall from the goal. Achieving it comes from sticking to fundamentals and hoping it happens. That being the case, I don't hold it against any particular artist if they don't step up, and so I retract the call I made. The artist must feel it to do it, and no call will help if no artists have shown signs of feeling it.